The present invention relates to a combination of elements for decreasing water use by conventional tank type flush toilets.
Tank type flush toilets typically use between eight and twenty liters of water for flushing waste material from and replenishing the water in a toilet bowl. Water economy demands that the volume of water utilized in flushing a toilet be reduced.
Various devices have been utilized to reduce the volume of water used by tank type flush toilets. For example, it has been determined that not all of the water contained in the toilet tank is required for complete flushing action in the toilet bowl. Accordingly, people place bricks, bottles and other objects within the toilet tanks to reduce the volume of water held in the tank.
Another approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,554 relates to a two level flush valve mechanism which allows only a portion of the water to drain from the tank for a low water volume flush and all of the water to drain from the tank for a high volume flush. Two level flush valve mechanisms have several intrinsic disadvantages in that two valve/plug arrangements are required and in that the valve/plug arrangements require rather complex sealing arrangements to render them water tight. Other disadvantages of the two level tank valve device relate to the fact that in a low volume flush, water exhausts from the upper portion of the tank and therefore does not usually have sufficient pressure for energetic flushing action in the toilet bowl.
Other approaches for reducing water usage in toilets relate to increasing the energy of the flushing action within the toilet bowl. For example, water distribution systems in the bowl are often designed to induce energetic fluid vortexes within the bowl for efficient washing and evacuation of waste materials and fluids from the bowl into the sewer drain.